Aybak

Izz ad-Din Aybak (1205-1257) was Sultan of the Bahri Sultanate in 1250, succeeding Shajar al-Durr and preceding al-Ashraf Musa, and from 1254 to 1257, succeeding al-Ashraf Musa and preceding al-Mansur Ali.

Biography
Izz ad-Din Aybak was born in 1205 to a Sunni Muslim family of Turkmen, and he served as an emir (military commander) and cupbearer for Sultan as-Salih Ayyub of the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt. Aybak, known as "Aybak al-Turkmani" due to his Turkmen descent, was one of the many mamluks (foreign slave-soldiers in the service of the Islamic dynasties) that rose to prominence under the Ayyubids, and he was counted as one of the "Bahri Mamluks".

Rise to Power
Aybak helped as-Salih Ayyub's wife Shajar al-Durr in seizing power after the murder of the incompetent sultan al-Muazzam Turanshah in 1250, but Shajar al-Durr was not recognized by the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, which refused to acknowledge a woman as an Islamic ruler. When lands began to secede, Shajar al-Durr decided to marry Aybak, and Aybak became the first ruler of the Bahri Sultanate. This proved even more unpopular, as the mamluks were now in control of the government. He also abdicated in 1250 (just five days after taking power), installing the Ayyubid al-Ashraf Musa as the nominal ruler of Egypt.

Izz ad-Din Aybak returned to his position as atabeg (commander-in-chief) afterwards, but he was the real ruler of Egypt, along with his generals Qutuz, Baibars, Bilban al-Rashidi, and Faris ad-Din Aktai. Aybak defeated an attempt by the Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, an-Nasir Yusuf, to invade Egypt and make himself sultan, and in 1254 an-Nasir withdrew from Egypt. He also had Faris ad-Din Aktai murdered when he attempted to marry an Ayyubid noblewoman, which he saw as an attempt to fabricate a claim on the throne. He then sent al-Ashraf Musa to live with his aunt, becoming sultan once more.

Sultan of Egypt
Aybak became Sultan for a second, longer period of time that spanned three years. Baibars and Qalawun al-Alfi deserted from Aybak's camp after the murder of Aktai, whose head was thrown from the citadel of Cairo. He retracted Alexandria from mamluk control and cracked down on his fellow slave soldiers, executing or imprisoning those who could not flee Egypt. The Ayyubids invaded a divided Egypt in 1257, and Aybak planned to marry the daughter of the Emir of Mosul Badr ad-Din Lulu. His wife Shajar al-Durr felt betrayed by Aybak's taking of a second wife, and she had servants murder him as he took a bath.